Zhang flies to Porto with Inter. The president asks the team for a gift of… 20 million

Steven Zhang will fly to Porto tomorrow afternoon with the team charter. The moment of the season is delicate and the president wants to be at the side of the group. To make the Nerazzurri feel his presence and his contribution. The owners didn’t like an insufficient performance in terms of results in the league, but they know that the Champions League is a completely different story. And outside the national borders Inzaghi and his men have given him great satisfactions such as the home victory and the draw at the Camp Nou against Barcelona which earned them second place in the group and the passage of the next round.

LIKE A RIAD

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Zhang, always present in home matches, sips his away matches, but never misses important appointments. He was in Riyadh, the day of the Supercoppa Italia victory against Milan (January 18), and he will be at Dragao on Tuesday evening for a match that could allow him to achieve a goal he has never achieved: qualification for the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Last year, at the first attempt, he found himself facing Liverpool and was “never” in the running given the 2-0 defeat in the first leg at home at San Siro. This time in Portugal Inter will have two results out of three in their favour. Zhang knows there will be difficulties, but he has faith and will pass it on to the group.

HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH

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Continuing the path in Europe for Inter would mean collecting at least another 20 million: 10.6 repaid by UEFA for reaching the quarter-finals, a maxi collection at San Siro for a further Euro-challenge (let’s say on the 7.5 million gross), in addition to the increase in the market pool. A lot of money for a budget that had not “foreseen” such an ambitious and profitable path from an economic point of view. Arriving among the eight queens of Europe, in addition to “answering” to Milan, would allow Inter to cross a milestone that has been missing since 2010-11, when Zanetti and his companions eliminated Bayern Munich. The one with Leonardo on the bench was a team in full comeback in the league, while this one collapsed, after a good start to 2023, thanks to the horror performance away. The night at Dragao can change many things and Inter can go back to being themselves: Zhang believes in it and will be together with the other managers (Marotta has the League meeting scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, then he too will be in Porto). All together, leaving aside the performance in the championship at least for these two days.